Interlocking brick wall



Sept. 19, 1939.- 'w. c. FULLE 2,173,104

INTERLOCKING BRICK WALL Filed' Aug. 25, 1937 2 sneaks-sheet 1 ATTORNFV-Q Sept. 19, 1939. w. ic. FULLER 2,173,104

INTERLOCKING BRICK WALL Filed Aug. 25,1937 2 sheets-.sheet 2 *i0 INJS INVENTOR y ATTORNEYS v/'e'ol Patented Sept. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,173,104 TNTERLooxING BRICK WALL Application August 23, 1937, Serial No. 160,533

2 Claims.

My present invention relates to masonry walls such as are constructed from brick, tile, or flatfaced building blocks of various types, and more particularly to an interlocking brick wall.

5 Brick is probably the oldest building material in common use today and many different types of wall structures have been provided.

As a result of my present method of laying brick I provide a wall construction having many outstanding advantages, which overcomes many of the faults inherent to brick wall constructions that have been employed in the past. As normally employed bricks are either used to f orm solid brick walls, or are used as an outside covering or veneering on a frame structure, that has the normal wood studding and all the construction detail normally employed in a frame structure excepting the outside sheeting. With my present arrangement I provide a wall structure that has the inherent strength of a solid masonry wall that employs a greatly increased number of building units as brick, or tile, or blocks. It provides an excellent plaster base without the use of lath, or other bonding devices. It

overcomes the objection to the solid masonry wall in that no brick extends from one face of the wall to the other and, further, there is no mortar joint that extends from one face to the other. As a result there is a complete insulation of the inside wall from the outside wall'. Consequently, there can be no water drawn through the wall by capillary attraction or by natural draft which will interfere with the maintaining of a proper inside plaster coat.

Inasmuch as there is no studding, or lathing, the wall is absolutely fire proof. Further the absence of studding, lathing and the like eliminates an ever present threat of cracks in the plaster due to shrinkage of the lumber as used in normal wall structures.

I obtain these results by constructing my wall with a doubl'e bonding that provides the greatest possible strength that can be obtained from a given .number of bricks. It also provides a wall that will use considerably less brick for the same structural strength and thickness than can be accomplished with any otherknown method of laying a masonry wall.

By staggering my air spaces it is impossible for mortar to fall down the air spaces and ll up a portion of the space between the outer and inner wall as is so often the case where separate walls are constructed with an air space between them. When this lling occurs a vehicle is created for conveying water from the outer (Cl. 'l2-102) to the inner wall. Further, by having a continuous circulation of air from the lower portion of the wall to the upper portion, any moisture that may be drawn through thev outer wall is evaporated in the dead air space between the 5 walls, by the warmth of the inside walls.

In following out my method of construction there is no need of having any wood employed in the structure of the wall; as I so dispose the mortar and brick that they d0 not run, continu- 10 ously through the wall. This form provides a dry inner face that makes an adequate plaster base without the use of wood nailing strips, lath, or lath substitutes. As a result, with the plaster applied directly to the inner brick of the wall, l5 there is no space under the plaster to form a harbor for insects, rodents, and the like. It is, therefore, a strictly sanitary, clean wall.

Other and more specic objects will be apparent from the following description taken in 20 connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a front face view in elevation of a wall built after the teachings of my invention with certain parts broken away to better illus- 25 trate the construction, the portion sectioned being cut as along the line I-l of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is 'a vertical, cross-sectional view through the wall structure of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal, sectional view taken 30 along the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a portion of a wall similar to that shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, excepting that single courses are used instead of the double courses of the other figures. 35

Figure 5 is a face view showing a corner construction.

Figures 6, '1, 8, and 9, are horizontal, sectional views taken along corresponding lines of Figure 5. 40

Figure 10 is a perspective view of one -form of brick that may be employed in my construction.

Referring to the drawings, throughout which like reference characters indicate like parts, I2 45 designates, generally, the outer wall surface and I4 the inner wall surface. These two walls are formed of alternate courses of header and stretcher bricks; its simplest form being shown in Figure 4 and a variation, which at present 50 seems to be the most desirable, being shown in- Figures 1, 2, and 3. In these Figures 1, 2, and 3,

I have shown the header and stretcher bricks 'as being in double courses, breaking joints with themselves as is probably best illustrated in Flgure 1. It is possible to build a satisfactory wall with three similar courses, in an alternate arrangement, or any variation employing single, double. or triple courses to change the wall appearance.

Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 3, I have indi- -cated a double course of header and stretcher bricks laid in alternate arrangement and differing from the usual method of laying in that the bricks are all laid on edge. This is a particularly desirable feature of my present structure in that it will provide a wall with normal size bricks, of twelve inches in thickness, that will have two inter-bonded walls, in effect, with an air space between. When laid on edge the bonding brick provide an adequate lock, or bond, and will lay a much greater footage of wall than will be possible if the brick are laid in a conventional manner on their ilat side.

Referring specifically to the upper courses of Figures 1 and 2, the outside of the wall starts with a double course of stretcher bricks on edge as I6 and i8 which courses break joints as is illustrated in Figure 1, so as to give an adequate bonding, laterally of the wall. An air space, usually of about two inches, is left at and then two bricks that would normally be header bricks are laid in rowlock fashion as at 22 and 23. In the two courses immediately below the two top courses, the order is reversed with the edge laid stretcher bricks 25 and 26 on the inner portion, or face, |13 of the wall, with the header bricks 28 and 29 being exposed on the outer face l2 of the wall. In a like manner each alternate double courses of brick is a reversal of the courses above, to the end that each course of the wall consists of one brick on end, an air space, and a brick on edge. It is desired to point out at this time that the mortar used on the upper surface of the lower bonding brick 28, does not extend clear through but is interrupted at 30 so that there is no convenient path for moisture to pass through. This is an outstanding advantage of this method of laying br'ck.

Experience has shown, however, that in any brick wall mcisture will pass through the mortar joints and through the bricks themselves and, unless disposed of in some manner, is very likely to cause further seepage through the wall so as to make plastering on the inside `wall impractical. I have, therefore, provided that certain of the header brick will be chamfered off at as 32, 33, 34, and 36, and in this way a continuous air passageway is provided from the bottom of the wall to the top. Then, with an air inlet at the bottom of the passageway, and an outlet at the top under the roof, the heat of the building will normally `warm the inner wall I4 suiiciently so that an upward rise, or movement, of air will result which will vaporize and carry with it any moisture that might travel through outer wall I2. And, in this manner, it is provided that the inner wall I4 will at all times be dry, thereby providing one of the most essential results achieved by this present method of laying brick.

Normally, in laying the brick, the bricklayer chamfers off a corner of the brick; usually only a half an inch or so is taken off the bearing face. If desired, however, particularly Where pressed bricks are used, instead of chamfering, a groove as 38 might be formed in the corner of the brick after the showing of Figure 10, it being desirable in this construction to leave one end of the brick unchamfered for a suilcient distance so that a full bearing will be obtained on the edge of one brick, after the showing of Figure 2. Under certain conditions where it is desired to obtain the largest passageway possible without unduly reducing the bearing face of the brick, the mortar at 40 might be removed, as is shown in Figures 1 and 2.

In Figure 4 I have illustrated a wall in which header and stretcher brick on edge are laid ini alternate, single courses, the same method how. ever is employed as in the showing of Figures l, L

2, and 3; when so constructed, the air passageway is somewhat more tortuous but this can be compensated for by providing a greater number of chamfered bricks. In fact the showing of Figures l and 3 shows more brick chamfered than is normally required. Quite often in reasonably dry climate it is necessary to chamfer off only a single brick, as indicated;y at 40, rather than the double brick arrangement shown, and to dispose these at several brick intervals. This effects some saving in time and adds in a small degree to the bearing strength .of the wall.

Figure 5 is a front view of a brick wall taken at one corner.

Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 are sectional views taken along the similarly numbered lines of Figure 5 to illustrate the method of forming the corners so as to preserve the general characteristics of my method throughout the entire wall as this is essential to give'definite assurance that there will be no transmission of water through the walll even at the corners, or at window and door openings.

It is believed it will be apparent that a brick wall formed in this manner will permit a bricklayer to lay his brick almost as quickly as in normal constructions, as the air passageway 2U provides space so that he can set each brick particularly the face, or stretcher brick, set on edge, definitely in place with an easy grip with ample space for his fingers to assure proper alignment. It naturally follows that where the actual nurnber of brick laid per day is substantially the same as in the ordinary solid masonry wall and, further, such a great saving is made in the actual number of bricks used, the overall cost of a wall of a given size will be less. 'I'his saving will be on the bricklayers time, the mortar, the time of those persons employed in the supplying of brick and mortar, as well as on thebrick itself, The very nature of this type of wall does not require the exact striking of the mortar on the inside joint as there can be no accumulation of mortar coming down through a long air passageway, that might ll the space at the bottom, between the two walls of the older double wall structures. In the present wall, the alternate stretcher brick will accumulate a small amount of mortar that may be forced out from the two joints immediately above it. This, however, will never amount to enough to seriously affect the intended operation of this method of laying, or interfere with the desirable functioning and circulation of air through a wall formed by this method.

The foregoing description and the accompanying drawings are believed to clearly disclose a preferred embodiment of my invention but it will be understood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that such changes in the invention may be made as are fairly Within the scope and spirit of thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. A building wall in which all of the bricks are laid on edge and comprising a front stretcher row extending longitudinally of the wall to form one face thereof, a rear header row spaced from the stretcher row and forming another face. of the wall with the bricks extending transversely of-the wall, a front header row superimposed on said stretcher row, a rear stretcher row super-v imposed on the rear header row and spaced fromsaid front header row, and said wall having spaced horizontal channels joining the upper and 10 lower spaces.

2. A building wall comprising vertically adjoining horizontal courses each including a stretcher row of bricks and a header row of bricks, each said course having a vertical space between its rows and said spaces being located l in different vertical`planes, and bricks in the header rows having chamfered longitudinal edges forming channels communicating with spaces in the two courses.'

WAYNE c. Forma. lo 

